Central Problems in Social Theory

副标题: Action, Structure, and Contradiction in Social Analysis

ISBN: 9780520039759

出版社: University of California Press

出版年: (29 Nov 1979)

页数: 294

定价: USD 30.95

装帧: Paperback

内容简介

In this new and brilliantly organized book of essays, Anthony Giddens discusses three main theoretical traditions in social science that cut across the division between Marxist and non-Marxist sociology: interpretive sociology, functionalism, and structuralism. Beginning with a critical examination of the importance of structuralism for contemporary sociology, the author develops a comprehensive account of what he calls 'the theory of structuration.' One of the main themes is that social theory must recognize, as it has not done hitherto, that all social actors are knowledgeable about the social systems they produce and reproduce in their conduct. In order to grasp the significance of this, he argues, we have to reconsider some of the most basic concepts in sociology. In particular, Giddens argues, it is essential to recognize the significance of time-space relations in social theory. He rejects the distinction between synchrony and diachrony, or statics and dynamics, involved in both structuralism and functionalism, and offers extensive critical commentary on the latter as an approach to sociology. The book, which can be described as a 'non-functionalist manifesto,' breaks with the three main theoretical traditions in the social sciences today while retaining the significant contributions each contains. In so doing Giddens discusses a range of fundamental problem areas in the social sciences: power and domination, conflict and contradiction, and social transformation. He concludes with an overall appraisal of the key problems in social theory today.

作者简介

安东尼?吉登斯（Anthony Giddens, 1938—），当代著名的社会学家和政治思想家，英国剑桥大学社会学教授，伦敦政治经济学院院长（1997-2003），中国社科院名誉院士。同时，作为英国上议院议员，吉登斯的政治思想对英国新工党的发展产生过举足轻重的影响，被誉为英国前首相布莱尔的“精神导师”。

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